Log cabins held captive

My family toured the Denver Mint on Feb. 12 and got our just released log cabin pennies. This picture shows us pretending to lift a bag--if it were full of pennies it would hold $7,500 worth and weigh 3,000 pounds!

Those log cabin pennies that were "released" from the US Mint on Feb. 12 may not see the light of day for another 3 to 4 months. With the exception of the ones distributed in Kentucky during the national celebration of Abraham Lincoln's birthday and the few handed out to Mint tourists in Denver and Philadelphia, the rest remain stored in vaults at the Mint and Federal Reserve. According to the Denver Mint Public Affairs Office, there are still millions of dollars in Memorial pennies that need to be put into circulation first. They hadn't expected such a backlog. One of the specialists expressed frustration that the banks are not ordering more pennies these days and suggested that perhaps if they knew about the new pennies, they would be taking care of that backlog.

If they knew. I spoke to a local bank teller as she counted pennies for our school's fundraiser two days ago. Even though we had told her a week ago about the new pennies, she still insisted that they were only available through special order and are not meant to ever enter regular circulation. I could not convince her otherwise.

Regardless, we have our log cabin pennies, as do about 200 students and staff at our school -- a gift from the Denver Mint during our penny fundraiser, not to spend, but to save. They told us on Wednesday how lucky we are to be in possession of these pennies, that we are among the few worldwide to have them. Lucky? Of course. What else would one expect of a penny?